All members of the Supreme Court appointed committee have supported farm laws
- par Thibaud Popelin
- dans Monde
- — Jan 13, 2021
They also expressed doubts over the neutrality of the panel formed by the top court to end the impasse, a view shared by the Congress party.
The court will form a committee to hear farmers' grievances against the laws, Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde said during a hearing on Tuesday. He said that the committee will be a part of the "judicial proceedings" and its report will be for the purposes of the court.
They say the legislation passed by Parliament in September will lead to the cartelization and commercialization of agriculture, make farmers vulnerable to corporate greed and devastate their earnings.
The members of the committee will be Dr. Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; Anil Ghanwat, President, Shetkari Sanghatana; Dr. Pramod Joshi, agricultural economist and Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute and Bhupinder Singh Maan, National President of the Bhartiya Kisan Union and All India Kisan Coordination Committee and ex Rajya Sabha member.
Yet, the farmers have said they will "not participate" in discussions with the court-appointed panel saying all four committee members "have actively advocated" for the laws, according to their statement.
The farmers' unions, while welcoming the suspension of the implementation of the Acts, said it was not a solution that they had been asking for, because the laws could be reinstated anytime.
"Until the Centre accepts all the demands of farmers, our agitation will continue", said Mr Pandher.
"This was a precautionary measure we took in view of yesterday's hearings where there was talk of a committee. It is the government's way to distract attention from the protest", he said.
Farmers have consistently called for the total repeal of the laws, though the government says there is "no question" of this happening.
"If protesting farmers refuse to talk and negotiate their terms through the committee and insist on their demand to repeal the laws, it can complicate the matter for the court", Verma said. "This struggle will continue till anti-farmer-worker laws are repealed".
The court also asked the Centre to file an affidavit on its claim that some banned organisations including "Khalistanis" have infiltrated the ongoing farmers protest.
The agitating farmers were not happy with the judgment but said they are awaiting a copy of the court's order before deciding on their future course of action.
The apex court has given time to the Union government to file an amicable solution to the agitation.
To soothe fear among protesters, the court ruled that the existing system of government setting a minimum floor price for procurement of certain farm produce will continue and no farmer will be deprived of their land using the new laws. President Ram Nath Kovind on 27 September gave his nod to the bills amid growing protest by farmer bodies.
The top court, while noting that negotiations between the farmers' bodies and the Government have "not yielded any result so far", said constitution of a committee of experts in the field of agriculture to negotiate may create a congenial atmosphere and improve the trust and confidence of farmers.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November 28 a year ago, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.
